Bottle-cap.



C. V. GAVAZA.

BOTTLE CAP.

APPLICATION FILED mmzu. i915- naaaeai.

CECIL V. GAV'AZA, F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 GAVAZA BOTTLE CAP COMPANY, 013 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 011' MAINE.

BOTTLE-C 2 Patented Mar... 5, 19th. Serial No. 4,865.

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Cncm V. GAvAzA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bottle Caps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bottle caps, and more particularly to devices for removing bottle caps from bottles Without the employment of a special tool. These caps are, as is well known in the art, ordinarily formed of sheet metal and comprise a top from which extends a circumferential skirt which receives the mouth of a bottle and is provided with a series of shoulders or projections for engaging the usual head or enlargement formed on the outside of the bottle neck near its mouth. The special tool which has heretofore been required in most instances for the removal of these caps, has proved an objectionable feature to the use of the caps, as the tool is frequently lost, or misplaced, in which event the consumer is obliged to break the neck of the bottle to gain access to its contents. A further objection to these tools is that they frequently chipthe bottles, thereby rendering the latter useless for refilling purposes.

In order to overcome these objections it has been proposed in some instances to provide the caps with a removing device, which was either integral with, or attached to the cap. While such devices are, of course, not likely to be lost or misplaced, as in the case of theordinary cap oplener, they are open to another ob'ection. hese caps are ordinarily applie to the bottles by a machine which is provided with a hopper, and means for selecting the caps singly from the hopper and feedin them to the point Where they are applie to the bottle, and the open ing devices which have been attached to the cap heretofore have projected in such manner as to interfere with this selecting and feeding operation. For this reason these devices have not been regarded as commercially successful. With a view to overcoming this objection to prior devices of the character referred to, l have, in my Patent No. 1,127,357, ranted February 2, 1915, shown and described a novel form of cap opener, which can be successfully handled by the commercial capping machine.

Under that invention, a bottle cap having provided with an opener arranged to lie in close contact with the top of the cap,

and a neck, which was shaped to conform to the curve of the skirt and the bend at the juncture of the skirt and top, connected the skirt with the opener. By this construction the opener was made to lie fiat upon the top of the cap and to ofier no appreciable obstruction so that the caps could be handled by the commercial capping machine. With such a cap there was little likelihood of the opener being lifted above the top of the cap through engagement with other caps in the hopper, and thereby causing a jam in the hopper or feed chute of the machine.

The present invention is an improvement upon that of'my prior application above referred to, and has for its object to produce a bottle cap with an attached opener of the type covered by said prior application, and which opener shall be so formed and arranged as to present even less likelihood of entanglement with other caps in the hopper of the capping machine, and less chance of obstruction to the feeding of the caps to the sealing point, than in the construction covered by said prior application. With this object in view an important feature of the present invention consists in an opener of the class referred to, which is arranged in close contact with the top of the bottle cap and is adapted to be locked in engagement with the cap so that it cannot possibly be lifted above the cap while the device is being handled by the capping machine. In its preferred form, the opener extends beyond the juncture of the top and skirt of the cap, and has a flange which overlaps the skirt and effects a locking engagement between the parts when they are forced together. It is preferred that the opener be connected by a neck with the skirt, which neck may be shaped to conform to the curve of the skirt. By thus Hanging the opener over the bend referred to, and lapping it sli htly upon the skirt of the cap, a very effective lock between the parts may be made, and, moreover, the outer peripheral edge of the opener is bent down and out of the way, so that a smooth circumferential corner is prein the process of forming the device;

, The next step comprises Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation on the line 44, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a plan illustrating a further step in the operation interior flange of the annulus being completely turned over to form a bead;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation on the line 66, Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan showing the parts of Fig. 5, partly bent over each other;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a plan showing the opener annulus bent over upon the cap;

Fig. l0 is a side elevation of shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a plan showing the completed article, the opener being pressed tightly against the cap and locked thereto; and

Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation on the line 1212, Fig. 11.

In the embodiment of the invention herein illustrated the cap comprises a top portion 1 which is provided with a circumferentially depending skirt 2 formed with the usual shoulders or corrugations 3 for engaging in an annular groove on the outside periphery of the bottle neck near its mouth to thereby lock the cap with the usual seal tightly ressed over the mouth of the bottle. The

ottle cap is provided with a finger ring 5 which is connected with the lower part of the skirt by a neck 7 and is arranged to lie upon the top of the cap and concentric therewith. The ring or finger piece 5 has its external periphery down-turned to form a flange 10 which extends substantially at right angles to the plane of the body portion of the ring. The internal periphery of the ring is also provided with a flange which is doubled over, or bent upon itself, to form a rounded edge or bead 9 the purpose of which is to prevent the thin sheet metal of which this device is formed from cutting into the finger during the removal of the cap.

Under a preferred method of forming the cap a blank is cut out of a sheet of thin metal, such blank comprising a circular disk 6. a neck 7, and a disk 8, as shown in Fig. 1. the formation of the bottle'cap by pressing the bottom 1 and the corrugated skirt-2 up in the form illusthe parts as of forming the device, the

trated in Fig. 2. The annulus 5 is then formed by cutting out the center of the disk 8, and pressing up or otherwise forming the internal and the external peripheral flanges 9, 10 thereon, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. Following this step the internal flange 9 of the ring or annulus 5 is turned over upon itself to form the rounded edge or head 9, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Following this step the neck 7 is bent toward the skirt 2, thereby carrying the ring 5 from the position which it formerly occupied to the position as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, where it stands approximately at an angle of 4.5 degrees to the plane of the top 1. Thereafter, the annulus 3 is pressed down to the top 1 of the cap, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. In the final step the annulus is pressed firmly against the cap and locked thereto by the frictional engagement between the annulus and cap, the flange 10 fitting the bend at the juncture of the top 1 and skirt 2 and slightly overlapping the latter. It must be understood. however, that the terms lock or locking do not refer to the connection 7 between the opener and the skirt of the cap. The parts are shown in this position in Figs. 11 and 12, in which, as will be seen, the neck 7 has been bent in one direction to cause it to conform to and engage with the skirt 2, and in another direction to cause the annulus to be disposed in close contact with the top of the cap. The locking engagement may be eifected either by expanding the cap against the interior of the flange 10 of the annulus by a suitable tool inserted within the cap while the annulus is being pressed against the cap, or by making the flange 10 with an internal diameter which is less than the external diameter of the cap, and forcing the annulus over the cap. If desired, also, the steps of bending the annulus over upon the cap, and the locking of the annulus to the cap, may be performed as a single operation, instead of separately. The turned-over peripheral portion or flange 10 of the annulus presents a smooth edge at the bend where the top 1 joins the skirt 2, and this effectually prevents the caps from getting caught by the engagement of any sharp peripheral edges presented by a plurality of the rings 5 in contact with each other in the hopper of the capping machine. The caps are thereby permitted to slide past each other, and there is no possibility of one of the opener devices bein lifted above its cap to thereby get entangied with another cap and obstruct the feed of the capping machine.

With the construction described the cap, together with its finger ring or opener 5, wil occupy substantiaily the same space as the ordinary cap. The described construction permits numerous caps to be deposited in the hopper of the capping machine, and the sealing mechanism will operate upon the meanest caps oneby one and will withdraw them to the feed chute without danger of clogging the chute.

When the cap with the finger ring presses tightly thereupon is fed in position to be applied to a bottle by the capping machine, the plunger of the machine will be forced against the top 1 in the capping operation, and the pressure thus exerted will overcome the locking engagement between the ring 5 and top 1, and the ring will spring slightly away from the cap. When the cap is to be removed from a bottle the user may then readily lift the ring from the cap, insert his finger in the aperture of the ring and by pulling on the ring remove the cap.

A notch 14: is preferably formed in the periphery of the disk 8, diametrically opposite the neck 7, and in the finished article this notch serves to indicate to the user the proper point for lifting the annulus 5 from the cap.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in connection with what is known as the cork and seal cap, it is to be understood that the invention is equally useful in connection with other kinds of caps, and its use is not limited to the particu lar cap illustrated.

It will also be evident to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the details of construction or-in the arrangement of the parts illustrated, and that the form which is herein described and illusrated is a preferred form and no limitations thereto are intended other than what is 'expressed by the terms of the following claims.

I do not herein claim the method described for forming this cap, as the same is claimed in my co-pending application filed of even date herewith.

What I claim as new, is I 1. A bottle Cap having, in combination, a top provided with a circumferentially depending skirt, and an opener arranged in close contact with said top and having its external periphery overlying the bend at the juncture of said top and skirt, substantially as described.

2. A bottle cap having in combination, a top provided with a circumferentially depending skirt, and an opener arranged in close contact with said top and having a peripheral flange which is bent over the edge of said top, substantially as described.

3. A bottle cap having, in combination, a top provided with a depending skirt, and an opener formed as an annulus arranged in close contact with said top, and having a peripheral flange which is bent over the edge of said top. substantially as described.

4. A bottle seal comprising a flanged cap, and an annulus joined to the cap and having its external periphery turned over the edge of the cap and covering the bend at the may juncture oi the cap and flange, substantially as described.

5. A. bottle cap having, in combination, a top having a circumterentially depending skirt disposed angularly with respect to said top and an opener connected with the skirt and arranged over and parallel with said top and having its periphery bent over the edge of the top and slightly overlying said skirt, substantially as described.

6. A bottle cap having, a top provided with a circumferentially depending skirt, an opener arranged in contact with the top of the cap .and having its external periphery overlapping the bend at the juncture of the top and skirt, and a neck connecting said top and skirt, substantially as described.

7. A bottle seal comprising a flanged cap, and an annulus arranged to lie upon the top of the cap and having a neck joining it to the lower edge of the cap, said annulus having its external periphery bent over the outer edge of the cap, substantially as described.

, 8. A bottle cap, having, in combination, a top provided with a circumferentially depending skirt, and an opener connected b a single means of connection to the skirt, having a ring, for the engagement of a finger, locked in position upon the top of the cap, substantially as described.

9. A bottle cap having, in combination, a. top having a circumferentially extending skirt disposed angularly with respect to said top, and a finger piece connected integrally with the skirt and arranged. over and parallel with said top and having a portion thereoi bent over the edge of the top and slightly overlying said skirt, substantially as described.

10. A bottle cap having, in combination, a top provided with a circumferentially depending skirt, and an opener comprising a finger piece integrally connected with the skirt arranged in close contact with the top of the cap, said opener being locked to said cap, substantially as described.

11. A. bottle cap, having, in combination, a top provided with a circumferentially depending skirt, and an opener arranged in close contact with the top of the cap and having a flange embracing the top and iocking the opener thereto, substantially as described.

12. A bottle seal comprising a flanged cap, and an annulus having a neck integrally connected to the edge of the cap, said annulus being locked to the cap but adapted to be unlocked therefrom, substantially as described.

13. A bottle seal comprising a flanged cap and an annulus connected with the cap and normally locked in engagement with the top of the cap, said cap and annulus being conin combination, I

structed and arranged to cause the act of cap by the attachment of it to a bottle to attaching the cap to a bottle to unlock the unlock the opener from the cap.

annulus, substantially as described.

14. A bottle cap in combination with an CECIL GAVAZA' 5 opener frictionally locked to said cap, said Witnesses:

cap and opener being constructed and ar- CATHERINE L. SULLIVAN,

ranged to cause the change produced in the WARREN G. OGDEN. 

